Collecting Guest Emails in your Short-term Rental Business

Unlock the potential of your short-term rental with personalized email marketing strategies. Learn how to collect guest emails and what to communicate

In the fast-paced world of short-term rentals, establishing a strong connection with your guests is paramount. The key to achieving this lies in crafting a personalized email marketing campaign that not only showcases your properties but reminds your guest not only of a fantastic experience at your property, but hooks them into booking again.

The Power of Direct Communication

As the short-term industry becomes increasingly competitive, standing out becomes more challenging. Cutting through the noise is by establishing a direct line of communication with your

guests through email can provide a leg-up. Unlike impersonal mass-marketing, personalized emails allow you to engage with your guests on a more meaningful level. This not only fosters a sense of loyalty but also increases the likelihood of repeat bookings.

How to Collect Guest Emails

First, I want to point out that your agreement with Airbnb, VRBO and other booking platforms specifically disallows you from using emails or personal information collected from THEIR platform (i.e., your guests are actually THEIR customer, not yours). So approach with caution if you are soliciting guests in anyway who were obtained through those booking platforms.

Professional Solutions

Partnering with Expertise: Companies like StayFi specialize in professionally collecting guest emails. By offering seamless WiFi logins in exchange for email addresses, they streamline the process and ensure compliance with privacy regulations. This is definitely an easy button but it comes with the fact that - like a hotel, you are forcing the exchange of information. This will build your email list, but it may feel a bit commercial to your guests. Of course, these services come at a cost as well.

DIY Approach

QR Code Engagement: Empower guests to share their emails by strategically placing QR codes within your rental. These codes can lead to a CRM system or a Google Form, allowing guests to easily sign up for updates. I print my QR code and put them in frames around my properties.

Ask them to email you. I like QR codes - lots of people are familiar with them, its a quick direct to an easy page. But there are other options as well - put your email everywhere in your property and ask them to use it. I use magnetic business cards (with email and QR code on them), include it in my digital guide book, I even have printable coasters for one property with my website and email on them. Obviously this works best for generating return guests, but remember - the person who books your place isn't the only one in the space. They bring friends, family, partners. You want to get as many email addresses as possible.

Exchanges. My QR code is typically attached to a "get a discount code" but there are other options for this as well - offering something with immediate value in exchange for their email address. Offer a coupon code for a restaurant or attraction in the area. Maybe put together a day trip itinerary for your area and offer to email it to them. Get creative!

Ads: You can use ads to get people's emails. This is a good way to build awareness of your place and an email list.

Crafting Irresistible Email Campaigns

So once you have emails - what do you do with them? I'll tell you in a second, but I have a few disclaimers first.

Disclaimers and What You MUST Know.

I'm going to start this by telling you a couple of things. First, I hate email. Okay, hate my be a strong word. But my inbox is constantly overwhelming. Even so, I occasionally still open sales emails even though I know they are sales emails. Especially if its likely to make me happy, like remembering a terrific vacation or educate me or make me laugh. Email marketing IS effective. Like any marketing, its very much a numbers game. But keeping top of mind with guests it is a great strategy for increasing your direct bookings - and bookings overall.

Second, understand not every customer is going to become a repeat guest. No matter how much they like your place this is well-understood marketing data in hospitality and tourism. According to Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, the most profitable guests in hospitality have been classified as butterflies and barnacles; "Butterflies" may be profitable - i.e., they booked your place, but they are not loyal. They are going to flit about and are unlikely to return. "Barnacles" are loyal and profitable. (Kotler et al, 2017, 22). I'm a butterfly. I may love your place, but even if I return to your town - I'm gonna try a different place. I'm unlikely to be honest about it, too, by the way - if you ask me how likely I am to return I'll probably say "Highly". So find your "barnacles" - those who love you, your spot, and want to keep coming back. I hate the word barnacles; I think I'd use a different term. But, I didn't write the book - I'm just quoting it!

Third, you can not send emails to people who tell you they don't want them. You can not sell or share email addresses or personal information without consent. If you host international travelers, you need to be aware of the GDPR laws and be compliant.

Purpose

The purpose of an email campaign is, in my mind, to stay top of mind with prospective guests. I don't claim to be a marketing expert. In fact, I'm a novice. But clearly being top of mind when someone starts thinking "Its time for a weekend getway" or "I loved staying at that condo in (city) last time I had to go" - and then make it EASY for them to remember you and get booked.

What to Say in Your Emails

Email campaigns should be personal (use names) and relate to the relationship - ie, the experience guests have coming to your area, or tips/tricks for selecting the perfect rental, how to be a great guest, or insights about staying in your place. So you might try emails like

1. Hey, thanks for checking out my place. Just for doing so, next time you are planning a visit book direct HERE and use coupon code (XXXX)

2. Hey, our (high season) calendar is going to open. As a loyal follower, you get first dibs on your prime dates.

3. Grab birth months and send an email in advance and say happy birthday.

4. Send updates on the property/destination, highlighting "hidden gems in the area", sending hiking/biking routes, concert venues, favorite places to eat

5. Limited - time offers: Drive bookings by tapping that "Don't Miss Out" emotion

6. Remind folks of local events

7. Highlight new amenities you added

8. Hints and tips about how to select the perfect rental

Need some inspiration? I have a downloadable, editable library of email templates you can personalize for your specific town and property and make this part easy-peasy. Honesty, there is nothing worse that staring at a blank page trying to come up with the right thing to say - so avoid "blank page syndrome" and stop wondering; Grab my template library today! It comes with ideas for what to say to entice folks to book a last minute opening to "just because" newsy email templates to be personalized by you. So GRAB YOUR LIBRARY today and never worry about "what to say" again - just download, cut and paste into your preferred email vehicle and with a bit of personalization - you have 15 email templates ready to go - many that can be repurposed time and time again. And the best part? It costs a cup o' joe. Really. No more wondering what to say - just download and go for $5 ?! YES PLEASE! GET IT HERE

Frequency of Emails

So, again, novice marketer. My business coach has this amazing 90 day email drip system but I'll be honest - I don't think short-term rental marketing works for frequent emails (ie, every 4,5, 7 days). So I'm going to tell you what I think "top of mind without being annoying" looks like. These are my opinions which means for people like me - vacation markets. If you are more utilitarian stays perhaps more frequent is relevant.

The first email should be right away - acknowledge when someone joins your email list. Given them useful information about your property and - if promised, whatever was offered in exchange for their email.

After they join, I personally would say no more than 2 emails a month. I use quarterly newsletters and then some kind of monthly touchpoint. The contents can NOT be all salesy. Mix it up - info about the destination, the house, about you even - insofar as it connects to your potential future guest and why they should be interested in your place.

Anniversary emails. If they are annual re-bookers, then remind them when its time to book if they haven't. If you have birth months for your list, remind them to book a birthday stay with a discount.

Build Trust

People value authenticity and connection. Don't be too sale-sy. Realize people have options - your offering is just one and it MAY NOT be the right offer for their needs. That's cool. You only need 50-80 yes's a year to hit goal; "No" is a common and good enough answer. Add value in your content - provide tips and tricks that don't tie directly to a sales pitch, feed anticipation (did you know 73% of our enjoyment of our vacation is actually in the anticipation of it?!) and I'll say it again - don't lead with a sales pitch.

Give folks an easy "opt out". A big email list nets nothing if your folks aren't clicking through. A small, engaged email list can get you everything you need. Remember the "butterflies and barnacles" from above? Let those who aren't likely to "buy" go - exit your list, and make it easy for them to do so. This is best handled with an "Unsubscribe" button."

Logistics.

So all this is great, but HOW? Lots of ways to approach it, no matter how you approach it realize you are essentially building a customer relationship management system (i.e., a CRM) and your options are endless for free and paid tools.

If you went PRO for email collection in exchange for WIFI, then lean into that offering - the service provider likely has email templates and tools to make it easy.

If you went more DIY, perhaps you found a CRM to create your email collection tool in which case it too will make it easy for you to craft emails and even set up some automated emails. I use ConvertKit - I have a paid version due to my coaching/consulting business so my properties just get integrated into that (Its $15/month). Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and Get Responses are some options.

If you used Google Form or a tool that effectively created a spreadsheet and you like "easy" then perhaps Gmail works just fine. Set a reminder on your calendar to send out an email to your list on some schedule. To do mass emails without CC'ing everyone, you will use Mail Merge in Gmail (see how to do this HERE) - this adds the "Unsubscribe" button automatically. I also personally like Gmail's CRM - its called Streak, its free and it works well for small business.

Conclusion

Building a strong email marketing campaign for your short-term rentals gets those "barnacles" booked on repeat. Getting emails and having an engaging email campaign can create a personalized experience that resonates with guests and keeps them coming back for more.

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Not finding what you need? I offer 20 minute calls - no strings, to help you answer your trickiest questions. Some folks go on to work with me - sure (hey, I have to make a living) but some folks just need 20 minutes and I'm happy to connect and learn from you, with you, and help you too. Book a time HERE.

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Hey Boss! I'm Kate, owner/founder of The CEO Host. If you are interested in taking a leap into short-term rentals - or have some questions about your existing business, my goal - passion, and career, is to help YOU succeed. I've coached hundreds of folks getting started or looking to optimize, analyzed more deals (and duds) than I could count, completed thousands of hours of education and training, attended conferences... So don't be shy. A good CEO knows to bring in expert help - and that's what I'm here for! Lets HOP ON A CALL and chat!

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